I ended up returning the starter under warranty because of the start issue. SUMMIT sent me a new one. im not gonna use it as i took the oem one to a starter shop and had them replace the housing that broke so all is well now.
I bought a donor 8.8 from a 98 ford mustang GT and took it to ND fabrication in jackson to be built. they will adapt it to my thirdgen axle tubes. Going to run 4thgen 98-02 brakes and stepping up to 3.55 gears.